E. coli Tainted Bison Meat Lawsuit
Our E. coli law firm filed a lawsuit against Rocky Mountain Natural Meats, Inc., a company in Henderson, Colorado. Our client, a resident of Lakewood, Colorado, was hospitalized for an infection of E. coli O157:H7 after eating bison meat processed by Rocky Mountain Natural Meats in 2010.
The E. coli O157 lawsuit was filed by local counsel on July 8, 2010, in Jefferson County District Court. According to the complaint, our client purchased the bison product at a King Soopers grocery store in Lakewood, Colorado.
Health officials used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to confirm that the strain of E. coli that infected our client was genetically indistinguishable from a strain isolated from other people in Colorado. According to the complaint, health officials then concluded that our client was part of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to Rocky Mountain Natural Meats bison meat that now has six confirmed cases. Five of the ill persons live in Colorado and one lives in New York.
Attorney Fred Pritzker stated:
“This outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to bison meat is a wake-up call. In the past and currently, bison meat has not been subject to the same E. coli O157:H7 testing requirements as ground beef.
Many people assume that bison meat is safer than beef, but that reputation needs to be re-examined.’’
Our law firm has also represented E. coli victims from New York and Maryland who consumed Rocky Mountain Natural Meats bison products.
You can contact our law firm for a free consultation by calling us at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or by filling out our consultation request form here.
Investigation of Rocky Mountain Natural Meats E. coli Outbreak
When our E. coli lawyers are hired to represent an E. coli victim, we immediately begin an independent investigation of the outbreak. We gather and preserve epidemiological and microbiological evidence, hire experts in the fields of infectious disease and medicine, determine all liable (legally responsible) parties (e.g., slaughterhouse, meat processor, distributor, retailer, restaurant), and interview the victim and his or her family at length to determine how the E. coli infection and its complications have affected the victim’s life.
This Rocky Mountain Natural Meats outbreak began in June of 2010 when at least 5 people in Colorado and one person in New York contracted E. coli O157:H7 infections after consuming Rocky Mountain Natural Meats bison products.
Note: Our law firm has been hired by a person from Maryland who was also part of this outbreak.
In response to this outbreak, Rocky Mountain Natural Meats recalled about 66,000 pounds of ground buffalo and tenderized bison steaks on July 2, 2010. The Rocky Mountain Natural Meats bison recall includes products sold under the following brands:
- Great Range (sold in retail stores);
- Nature’s Rancher (sold in retail stores);
- The Buffalo Guys (sold in retail stores);
- Rocky Mountain Natural Meats (sold at restaurants).
Our experience with these cases has been that meat processors blame consumers for the illnesses, arguing that the consumers should have handled the meat better and cooked it properly. The law is that the meat processors and other companies involved are to blame: not the consumer. Meat sold to consumers should never be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a dangerous foodborne pathogen that is considered an “adulterant” under federal law.